A Reply to Camilla Pickles' “Pregnancy Law in South Africa: Between Reproductive Autonomy and Foetal Interests”

Camilla Pickles’ Pregnancy Law in South Africa. Between Reproductive Autonomy and Foetal Interests (Pregnancy Law) aims at providing a less adversarial angle related to the pregnant woman and the unborn within her, by moving away from the pregnant woman as a single entity (including the unborn within her) as well as from viewing the pregnant woman and the unborn within her as two separate entities of distinctive value and separate needs. This applies to four categories addressed by Pregnancy Law, namely foetal personhood, violence against pregnant women that terminates pregnancies, substance abuse during pregnancy, and termination of pregnancy for especially the South African context. Pregnancy Law positions its argument on a relational model that emphasises the context of pregnancy as signifying a connection between the pregnant woman (with rights) and the unborn (with interests) inside of her, the unborn being fully dependent on the pregnant woman’s body. This in turn is blended with what is referred to as a not-one/not-two approach. Bearing this in mind, Pregnancy Law claims to provide a compromise, middle ground and third approach regarding what is perceived to be the extremes of the single-entity and separate-entities approaches. Bearing this in mind, this article comprises a critical appraisal directed at Pregnancy Law’s claims as alluded to in the above with specific focus on the status of the unborn against the background of abortion (which in turn has implications for matters related to foetal personhood, violence against pregnant women that terminates pregnancies and substance abuse during pregnancy).

Gendered power dynamics and threats to sexual and reproductive autonomy among adolescent girls and young adult women: A cross-sectional survey in three urban settings

Background Gendered economic and social systems can enable relational power disparities for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), and undercut autonomy to negotiate sex and contraceptive use. Less is known about their accumulation and interplay. This study characterizes relationship power imbalances (age disparity, intimate partner violence [IPV], partner-related fear, transactional sex, and transactional partnerships), and evaluates associations with modern contraceptive use, and sexual/reproductive autonomy threats (condom removal/“stealthing”, reproductive coercion, ability to refuse sex, and contraceptive confidence). Methods Cross-sectional surveys were conducted with unmarried, currently-partnered AGYW aged 15–24 recruited via respondent-driven sampling in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (n = 555; 2018–19), Nairobi, Kenya (n = 332; 2019), and Lagos, Nigeria (n = 179; 2020). Descriptive statistics, Venn diagrams, and multivariate regression models characterized relationship power imbalances, and associations with reproductive autonomy threats and contraceptive use. Findings Relationship power imbalances were complex and concurrent. In current partnerships, partner-related fears were common (50.4%Nairobi; 54.5%Abidjan; 55.7%Lagos) and physical IPV varied (14.5%Nairobi; 22.1%Abidjan; 9.6%Lagos). IPV was associated with reproductive coercion in Nairobi and Abidjan. Age disparate relationships undermined confidence in contraception in Nairobi. In Nairobi and Lagos, transactional sex outside the relationship was associated with condom stealthing. Interpretation AGYW face simultaneous gendered power differentials, against the backdrop of gendered social and economic systems. Power imbalances were linked with coercive sexual/reproductive health experiences which are often underrecognized yet represent a potent link between gendered social systems and poor health. Pregnancy prevention efforts for AGYW must address reproductive autonomy threats, and the relational power imbalances and broader gendered systems that enable them.

The impact of US policy on contraceptive access: a policy analysis

Background Contraceptive access is influenced by policy decisions, which can expand and constrict the contraceptive options available. This study explored the impact of recent US federal policy on contraceptive access. Methods Federal policy changes impacting contraceptive access over the past decade were identified in grey literature. These policy changes were organized into a timeline and analyzed according to Levesque et al.'s (2013) five dimensions of healthcare access (approachability, acceptability, availability/accommodation, affordability, and appropriateness), noting the most salient healthcare dimension impacted by the policy change and analyzing whether, according to this framework, the policy created a theoretical increase or decrease in contraceptive access. Results Of those policy changes coded as increasing (n = 42) and decreasing (n = 28) contraceptive access, most were related to the affordability (increasing n = 13; decreasing n = 12), physical availability (increasing n = 10; decreasing n = 7), and appropriateness (increasing n = 12; decreasing n = 4) of contraceptive care. Policy changes largely followed partisan divides, with contraceptive access increasing in years with a Democratic president and decreasing when a Republican president was in office. Many policy changes were related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Title X of the Public Health Services Act. The implementation of the ACA and subsequent updates to it have increased the affordability of contraception, whereas changes to Title X have decreased the availability and appropriateness of contraceptive care. Conclusions This study highlights recent policy changes impacting contraceptive access, organizing them according to the five dimensions of healthcare access. It outlines specific policy barriers to contraceptive access and provides suggestions for policy and practice action that will improve contraceptive access and reproductive autonomy. Opportunities to ensure contraceptive access for all Americans include promoting comprehensive sex education, extending the Community Health Center Fund, increasing contraceptive care options for people with employers who are exempted from the ACA contraceptive mandate, addressing discrimination and building trust in contraceptive care, and amplifying outreach efforts to combat misinformation and confusion created by continuous changes to key family planning policies. Continued research on the role of policy in determining reproductive autonomy is warranted, and practice and policy action is needed to improve contraceptive access.

The ethical landscape(s) of non-invasive prenatal testing in England, France and Germany: findings from a comparative literature review

Since 2019, England, France and Germany have started offering NIPT as a publicly funded second-tier test for common chromosomal aneuploidies (trisomy 21, 18 and/or 13). Despite these benefits, the introduction of NIPT into routine prenatal care also raises a number of ethical concerns. In this paper, we analyse how these issues are discussed differently across countries, echoing the different socio-political particularities and value-systems that shape the use and regulation of NIPT in a specific country. The international comparison between England, France and Germany shows how each country defines the principle of reproductive autonomy and weighs it against other principles and values, such as, human dignity, disability rights and the duty of care of health professionals. In terms of methodology, our literature review focuses on arguments and regulations of prenatal testing and reproductive choices (specifically on NIPT), through the investigation of regulatory, parliamentary, scientific, medical, association, institutional and media sources. The comparative review helps to better understand ethical questions discussed with regard to NIPT, and, more broadly, to prenatal genomic testing, and the limits associated with reproductive autonomy in the three countries studied. Whereas reproductive autonomy is valued in each country, it is understood and implemented differently depending on the socio-cultural context, and on what other principles are evoked and how they are defined.

The journey from infertility to uterus transplantation: A mixed-methods study of the perspectives of participants in the Dallas Uterus Transplant Study (DUETS)

Objective: To study the impact of absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) and uterus transplantation (UTx) on women, and UTx recipients’ perceptions of Utx and reproductive autonomy Design: Convergent mixed-methods study. Setting: UTx program in a large academic medical centre in the United States. Population/Sample: 20 Utx recipients Methods: A medical chart review was conducted to collect patient demographic information, and clinical outcomes. Semi-structured interviews collected information regarding participants’ experience. Main Outcome Measure(s): The outcomes of interest were participants’ experience of infertility, experience with UTx, and general perceptions of UTx. Results: 7 participants were pregnant (one with a second child), 6 had experienced early graft failure and removal, 5 had delivered a healthy baby, and 4 had a viable graft and were awaiting embryo transfer. The primary themes identified were: the negative impact of AUFI diagnosis on psychological wellbeing, relationships, and female identity; the positive impact of UTx on healing the emotional scars of AUFI, female identity, and value of research trial participation; and the perception of UTx as an expansion of reproductive autonomy. All participants reported Utx was worthwhile, regardless of individual outcome. On bivariate analysis, disease aetiology, having a child after uterus transplantation, experiencing graft failure and current pregnancy were not significantly associated with the impact of AUFI or of UTx on participants’ identities. Conclusion: AUFI has a negative impact on women from a young age, affects multiple relationships, and challenges female identity. UTx helps reverse this impact, transforming women’s life narrative of infertility and enhancing female identity.

Making use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): rethinking issues of routinization and pressure

First mapping the main ethical issues surrounding prenatal testing, we then analyze which concerns are specific to non-invasive methods. Presupposing the privatization premise for reproductive autonomy in fundamentally liberal societies, we go on to specify common concerns about non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) covered by the term ‘routinization’, and conceptually unravel the frequently expressed worry of increasing ‘pressure’ to test and/or terminate affected pregnancies. We argue that mindful decision-making should be a key educational goal (not only) of NIPT counseling which could be achieved through stepwise disclosure. In addition, we identify indirect social pressure as the most plausible threat to reproductive freedom. While continuous efforts need to be made to prevent such pressure – not least by ensuring balanced availability of options –, restricting testing options, and thus freedom of choice, cannot be the answer to this concern. Lastly, we suggest abandoning the vague term ‘routinization’ and instead focusing on specified concerns to enable a fruitful debate.

Men’s reproductive coercion of women: prevalence, experiences, and coping strategies—a mixed method study in urban health facilities in León, Nicaragua

Background Reproductive coercion (RC) is a common form of violence against women. It can take several expressions aiming at limiting women’s reproductive autonomy. Thus, the frequency and how reproductive coercion can be resisted must be investigated. There is limited research regarding RC in Latin America. Therefore, this study aimed to measure RC prevalence and associated factors and to explore the women experiences and coping strategies for RC. Methods A convergent mixed-methods study with parallel sampling was conducted in Nicaragua. A quantitative phase was applied with 390 women 18–35 years old attending three main urban primary health care facilities. Lifetime and 12 months of exposure to RC behaviors including pregnancy promotion (PP) and contraceptive sabotage (CS) were assessed. Poisson regression with a robust variance estimator was used to obtain adjusted prevalence rate ratios and 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs). In addition, seven in-depth interviews were collected and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Ever RC prevalence was 17.4% (95% CI, 13.8–21.6) with similar proportions reporting ever experiencing PP (12.6%, 95% CI 9.4–16.3) or ever experiencing CS (11.8%, 95% CI 8.7–15.4). The prevalence of last twelve months RC was slightly lower (12.3%, 95% CI, 9.2–16.0) than above. Twelve months PP (7.4%, 95% CI 5.0–10.5) and CS (8.7%, 95% CI 6.1–12.0) were also similar. Women’s higher education was a protective factor against ever and 12 months of exposure to any RC behaviors by a current or former partner. Informants described a broad spectrum of coping strategies during and after exposure to RC. However, these rarely succeeded in preventing unintended pregnancies or regaining women’s long-term fertility autonomy. Conclusions Our facility-based study showed that men’s RC is a continuous phenomenon that can be enacted through explicit or subtle behaviors. Women in our study used different strategies to cope with RC but rarely succeeded in preventing unintended pregnancies or regaining their long-term fertility autonomy. Population-based studies are needed assess this phenomenon in a larger sample. The Nicaraguan health system should screen for RC and develop policies to protect women’s reproductive autonomy.